


The Jedi and The Mandalorian

by Mister_Fox



Series: In Orbit [1]
Category: Bleach, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Idiots in Love, Jedi, M/M, Mandalorian Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24419815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mister_Fox/pseuds/Mister_Fox
Summary: Ichigo is the Padawan of Jedi Master Yoruichi Shihouin.He wishes she'd stop surprising him with things like being friends with kriffing Mandalorians.UraIchi Week 2020 - Day 4, Battle.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo/Urahara Kisuke, Kurotsuchi Mayuri/Urahara Kisuke
Series: In Orbit [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767619
Comments: 5
Kudos: 97
Collections: UraIchi Week 2020





	The Jedi and The Mandalorian

Ichigo sits outside the Jedi High Council chambers, waiting for them to tell him something. Anything.

He can feel his grief well up inside him, and tries to release it continuously into the Force, but it’s so _hard_. Master Kurosaki died only a week ago. How is he supposed to just _let go_ of the grief, when… when it was his fault she died. She died defending him, because he wasn’t _good enough_ , because he needed her to come back to him, and-

He tries very hard to not cry.

The door to the chambers opens, and Master Shihouin steps out. Her presence in the Force is calm, soothing.

“We have reached a decision, Padawan Ichigo,” she says. “If you wish to do so, you can continue your apprenticeship with a new master, and not take a temporary break and residence in the Temple.”

He stares. “I’m- I’m not getting kicked out? But it’s my fault-”

She smiles sadly at him. “No, Padawan. You were doing the best you could, and your Master did the best she could to protect you.”

He _can’t_ argue with a Councillor.

“There are many Jedi who would be happy to take you as a Padawan. If you would like, you can wait and see what your options are.” She pauses, and smiles, her long tail swishing from side to side. It’d be playful in a cat, but Ichigo’s not sure whether Master Shihouin’s species is quite cat-like enough for it to be the same. “Now that I’ve done my duty and told you that, I am free to ask - would you like to become _my_ padawan?”

Apprenticeship to _Councillor Shihouin_ , who, two years ago, became the _youngest ever_ Jedi Master and High Councillor at just sixteen years of age?

“Yes,” he says, not even thinking about it.

Master Yoruichi’s smile turns sharp. “You’ll be my first Padawan, then. This’ll be _fun_.”

* * *

“Are we going on this mission alone, Master Yoruichi?” Ichigo asks, frowning over the datapad. It seems like a pretty big thing to send just one Jedi and Padawan on, even if the Jedi is a High Councillor, negotiating a treaty in the Mandalorian sector at the request of the Senate.

“We will have back-up,” Yoruichi says, shaking her head. “An old friend of mine just finished a mission of his own that he’d been on for four years, and we’ll be meeting up on-planet, so we can all return here together.”

An old friend?

“Say good-bye to anyone you’ll miss. I know this is supposed to be a simple negotiating matter, but there’s every chance this will get _messy,_ and we might not be back for some weeks.”

Right. He’ll just assume they’ll be getting home in about a year, then.

* * *

They’re waiting for Master Yoruichi’s friend in a small cafe in the city, and Ichigo eyes the area around them, trying to spot the tell-tale robes of a Jedi, or at least a lightsaber on a belt.

He and Yoruichi get glances back of their own, and plenty of them are… Well, the Force around them swirls with distrust and apprehension from the Mandalorians in the crowds.

They clearly remember their slaughter at the hands of the Jedi Order, and accidental as it was- well.

Ichigo isn’t surprised at their reactions.

There’s a small hush from up the street, and Ichigo cranes his head to see what’s going on.

A Mando is walking along the street in full armour, face concealed by the traditional bucket helmet. After a crash course in Mandolorian culture, Ichigo can recognise that it is made of beskar’gam. All of it.

The Mando’s armour isn’t the blue and black of Death Watch, at least. It’s black and gold, colours that Ichigo thinks mean _justice_ and _vengeance_ , the armour bearing singe marks and bloodstains and who knows what. And he’s carrying a _lot_ of weapons: knives, a sniper-spear, a whip, and doubtlessly more things that are either concealed or things that Ichigo does not recognise as weapons yet.

Ichigo grips his lightsaber under the table.

The Death Watch aren’t the only Mandalorians with a history against the Jedi. If this True Mandalorian is here to pick a fight…

He is heading right for their table.

Ichigo tenses.

“Long time no see, Kisuke!” Master Yoruichi says, waving at the Mando to sit down.

The Mando bows, and then laughs, pulling up a chair, and now Ichigo sees the symbol of the Jedi Order emblazoned on the shoulder armour plate in green, right under the golden mythosaur sigil. “We saw each other over hologram just yesterday,” he says, in a thickly accented voice. “But I understand the sentiment.”

“Talking Mando’a for the last several years has _ruined_ your accent.” Master Yoruichi eyes this _Kisuke_. “Still wearing the gold? I thought you said you finished dealing with the Death Watch.”

He shrugs. “You said this was urgent. I have not had the time for a paint job, nor did I even have green or white paint.”

Duty and… Ichigo doesn’t know that one.

Master Yoruichi looks thoughtful.

“Do you think the negotiations will go faster or slower if you show up looking like you just walked off a battlefield?”

Ichigo lets go of the lightsaber.

A Mandalorian allied with the Jedi Order.

He’s… probably seen weirder things.

* * *

The mission goes to shit, but it does _not_ take a year to get home, mostly thanks to Kisuke, and his back-up and partner, the Mandalorian togruta Mayuri, who doesn’t wear a helmet on account of his elegantly curving white and blue montrals. The bottom half, anyway, the rest of them replaced with painted mechanical prosthetics.

Ichigo doesn’t remark that it looks like someone lopped the tops off to try and fit his head into at least a somewhat-standard helmet. He doesn’t particularly want to know that it’s true, because then he’d have to think about the kind of people who would _do that_.

Anyway, he’s too busy having half a heart-attack about the fact that the people who had been shooting down the pursuing ships with _Benihime’s_ weapon systems were three kids, apparently co-adopted by the two older Mandalorians.

What kind of people let kids near kriffing torpedos?

* * *

They get matched on missions again, the Jedi Order apparently considering a Mandalorian good back-up for a High Council member that refuses to stay off the field.

Kisuke is an extremely capable fighter, and Ichigo watches in awe, barely remembering to fight himself.

Jedi aren’t supposed to like violence, to praise it, but there’s something _beautiful_ about the ruthless, elegant efficiency that Kisuke possesses in battle.

* * *

Ichigo is mending his robe, trying to fix a blaster hole, when Mayuri speaks up.

“Monogamy is not a part of Mandalorian culture,” he says, without looking up, still intent on polishing his helmet. “I understand your feelings. If you wish to pursue him, I have no objections.”

What in the Force is he talking about?

“Kisuke thinks quite highly of your fighting capabilities, as well as other things, and I quite agree with his judgement. As long as you don’t dither, you have quite good odds. Follow the concept of _shereshoy_ and be forward with your feelings, or you _will_ lose your chance.”

Shereshoy… the lust for life, the unique Mandalorian word for seizing each day and living it to the fullest, for in their life, there is no promise of a tomorrow.

 _But-_ No, no, _no_. Ichigo does _not_ have a thing for Kisuke. He doesn’t.

Mayuri is talking complete _nonsense._

* * *

Two lightsabers hum to life. A vivid gash of red light that deflects the blaster bolts aimed at the children behind Kisuke’s back, and a black _rip_ in the world that tears through the ranks of droids in the next second, and Ichigo _stares_ at the Mandalorian.

Yet there’s no change in the Force, no hint of rage or anger or hate, nothing that says there’s a Sith in front of him.

But then, one doesn’t have to be a Force-sensitive to merely _use_ a lightsaber. Just use one with no risk of losing own limbs.

The Force shouts in his ear, and Ichigo launches himself to the side.

The spot where he stood explodes a moment later, one of the Separatist tanks aiming for him, and he has no time left to think about Sith, lightsabers, and Mandalorians.

Specialising in Shii-Cho means listening to the Force for his cues, not thinking about-

A blaster shot puts a hole in his sleeve, and Ichigo forcefully stops thinking of anything other than cutting through the droids to get to the tank before it fires at something _else_. Or advances far enough to find and destroy their-barely fixed spaceship, the one that had them land on this planet instead of returning straight to Coruscant after that bodyguard mission for the royals of Alderaan.

He Force-pushes half a dozen droids into the next oncoming blast, swerves sideways to push through a cluster of them trying to advance from the side, and leaps at the tank.

He cuts through the main gun with his lightsaber, and rushes forwards, plunging it deeper through the metal. Ichigo keeps moving, jumping off the tanks the moment he feels that he’s hit something _important_ , and the tank explodes behind him.

There are not many droids left after that, and Ichigo gets to see Kisuke most _definitely force leap_ over ranks of droids to cut them down where they were hiding behind a shield.

If Ichigo could have pretended that Kisuke had just used his jetpack to get over the shield-

There is nothing he can do to plausibly deny the fact that he is most _definitely_ seeing a _masterful_ use of jar’kai soresu. If not for the armour, Ichigo could have sworn he was seeing a Jedi Master on the field. And someone who had absolutely _mastered_ Soresu, at that.

They are going to need to Talk.

“Are you okay?” Ichigo can hear Kisuke asking Jinta, Ururu, and Nemu, crouched down in front of them, both lightsabers having disappeared somewhere under the armour. “Unharmed?”

“ _Elek, buir,_ we’re fine.”

Kisuke holds them close for a second, then stands up.

“We should go. More of them will arrive on the planet soon to investigate the disturbance, and our ship should be fit for flight now.”

Right.

The Talk probably shouldn’t happen in front of the children. Especially if lightsabers need to come out.

As they walk back, Ichigo notices that, for some reason, Master Yoruichi does not look _remotely_ disturbed by what happened. But surely, she had seen the red lightsaber, from where she was fighting the droids on the other side of the battlefield?

Ichigo keeps his attention on the Force as they board the ship, walking in last.

With a long groan, the engines turn on and the ship, stutteringly, takes off. If not for Kisuke, it would probably have been a wreck the moment they touched down, but as is…

It’s not.

Right. Back to the Sith thing. Surely, Master Yoruichi’d _know_ if Kisuke was a Sith, surely… surely a Sith can’t hide _that_ well. Not well enough to fool the Jedi Council into letting him teach the occasional class, into paying him to complete missions alone or while accompanying Jedi.

But Ichigo himself has failed to notice what must have been constant Force use in combat, leaps and moves and speed that were not the result of some insane Mandalorian training, but the result of _Force_ _use_. Although, it wasn’t like he was looking for Force use when he was just… very intently watching how beautifully and elegantly Kisuke moves while fighting, just like in normal life.

Well, _that_ sounds wrong even to himself. Maybe Mayuri wasn’t talking entirely out of his ass.

* * *

“Are you a Sith?” Ichigo blurts out the moment the children are out of hearing range, having run off to the kitchen to get something to eat.

Kisuke turns to him, and- well, presumably he is looking at him from behind the visor, and doesn’t have his eyes closed- stares.

Ichigo’s not sure he’s ever seen Kisuke speechless before.

“No. Padawan Ichigo, what…. Why, no, pardon me, _how_ did you arrive at that question?” Kisuke sounds utterly _lost_. Ichigo doesn’t think he’s ever seen him so confused before.

Behind Ichigo, Yoruichi bursts out laughing. He turns to frown at her.

She’s cackling like she’s just cheated several Masters out of their portions of dessert while playing sabbacc, yet again.

What in the _Force_ is so funny about his question?

“K- Kisuke _Urahara_ , a S-s- _sith,_ ” Yoruichi chokes out between giggles. “Kisuke, I think my Padawan- I think the issue is that my Padawan somehow _doesn’t know_ that you are a _Jedi_.”

What. “Because I can’t think of another reason he’d call only current living Master of Soresu, the Sith-Slayer Jedi Master Urahara who has _killed_ the first Sith to have been seen in a thousand years, and more Darksiders than most people know languages, the Jedi known for his most _impeccable,_ most _perfect_ emotional balance and shielding, his truly _exemplary_ following of the Jedi code, a _Sith.”_ She’s laughing properly now, tears streaming out of her eyes.

_Sith-Slayer Jedi Master Urahara?_

Kisuke- that is _Kisuke?_

Ichigo’s feeling his own brain break, he swears it. “But you’re _True Mandalorian!_ You _can’t_ be a Jedi, you _wouldn’t_ be a Jedi after the accidental near-eradication of True Mandalorians on Galidraan at the hands of the _Jedi Order._ And, isn’t there that thing, the resolve, or whatever the Mandalorian Code is called?”

Kisuke tilts his head.

“It is not against the _Jedi_ code to be a Mandalorian, and the Mand’alor let me swear to a slightly… unusual Resol’nare. Education and armour, self-defence, language, clan and leader... Jedi code and the Force.” He pauses. “I must ask. Have you genuinely _not_ _noticed_ in the five years that we have been acquainted?”

“But- your lightsaber colour, it’s _red_ , and the other is…”

“My red lightsaber is… unfortunate, yes, but it is not quite the same kind of red as a Sith one. The other is a Mandalorian artefact that I have been entrusted with for safekeeping.”

Ichigo wishes a hole would tear itself open in the ship underneath him and dump him straight out into hyperspace.

Well, _now_ , he’s ruined Kisuke’s opinion of himself and lost every chance at. Possibly. Ever going anywhere with feelings that Ichigo definitely _doesn’t have._

_Ah fuck._

* * *

After the mess gets worse, then gets better, Ichigo gets sent on Trials so he can be _Knighted_.

So, yeah, it’s a decent while before Ichigo manages to see Kisuke again.

Long enough to learn some basic mando’a, and read up on some Mandalorian poetry.

Ichigo catches him on his way out of his apartment, because of course, as a Jedi, he and his family can live in the Temple, which explains why Ichigo’s seen him around the place so often.

“Yes?” Kisuke says, stopping as Ichigo hails him. “Good morning, Knight Ichigo. Congratulations on completing your Trials.”

Ichigo tries not to flush as he hands over a piece of paper, his... he doesn’t even remember what draft it is, just that he kept writing over and over again until Mayuri didn’t burst out laughing on being presented with the newest draft of the poem.

“I am sorry I mistook you for a Sith”

No one ever taught him to write mando’a, okay?

He resists the urge to flee.

Somehow, this is _far_ more daunting than literally any of the Trials he faces, and that includes scaling up a freaking vertical cliff-face in a blizzard after he accidentally fell off it.

Kisuke finishes reading it, and looks up at him.

“Thank you,” he says, politely, a strange expression on his face distorting the long, ripped scars across his face in weird ways.

Ichigo sighs in relief. “So it’s not a total disaster?”

“The sentiment and phrasing are lovely, you have done a magnificent job in terms of emulating the style.”

Ichigo can _sense_ the ‘but’ that has been left hanging. “But?”

“Your handwriting is _atrocious_.” Now, Ichigo can tell that the weird expression Kisuke is making is his attempt to _not burst out in laughter._ “Please, _please,_ never write anything in Mando’a if you mean for someone else to read it until you get proper classes. It’ll either cause a diplomatic incident, or give someone _entirely_ the wrong idea about your intentions, or both.”

“Hey, I tried my best! Anyway, uh. So, will you go out with me?”

Kisuke smiles. “Certainly.”

A faint “Yes! Finally, you emotionally challenged Jedi, you’ve done it! _Someone_ owes me a hundred credits now!” sounds from behind the door.

Ichigo facepalms.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a link to [Cywscross' UraIchi Discord Server](https://discordapp.com/invite/ADFnKTZ#_=_)!
> 
> Eventually, Mauyri and Ichigo get together as well, Ichigo gets adopted into the culture, and it's all one big happy Mando family, with Ichigo and Kisuke splitting training the three kids between them, as no other Jedi are also Mando, and all the kids are Force-sensitive.
> 
> Mayuri is missing the montrals - horn like bits that togruta have - because of Death Watch. He and Kisuke met while Kisuke was liberating prisoners/captives/forced soldiers from a camp, and he joined Kisuke's mission to bring peace to the Mandalorian system at the behest of the Mand'alor - Benihime.


End file.
